#odysseus

haha nooo don’t harm the cattle of Helios Hyperion, ur so sexy

ngl im kind of obsessed with how odysseus meets achilles and ajax in the underworld and is like ‘why are you guys still upset about dying, just be happy ☺️’ bruh

Odysseus from Persona 2 Eternal Punishment

The bard tells me that you gaze out over the ocean and pine to come home. That you plead with Calypso to release you. That you promise her I am less beautiful than she, especially after so many years have passed, but that I am your wife and you love me nonetheless. I can’t lie, Odysseus, I would have preferred it if you had not said that. No one wishes to hear about their age and lack of beauty in a song.
A Thousand Ships by Natalie Haynes

Athena and Odysseus

yuinevo:

Tall queen, short king (srry for any inconsistencies/inaccuracies)

Who was this mythical storyteller? A singing bard-poet, (aoidoi)-dramatically orating the epic tales for aristocratic banquets or bawdy taverns? A collective of poets-refining their work over generations? The unfortunate truth is, we just don’t know.

Homer is thought to have existed around 800-700 B.C. and is credited as the creator and poet of the epics; “The Iliad” (15,693 lines) and “The Odyssey” (12,109 lines). Homer existed during a time when Linear B had been lost, or the Greek “dark ages.” So the poets of this time sung their tales in song-like structures, passing the oral art form down form generation to generation. Therefore, its unlikely Homer made up these tales, but inherited and refined them from older tales that had been passed down in the oral tradition. To complicate things further, Between the epics, there are variations in narrative style, vocabulary, and geographic expertise, which lead many scholars speculate that The Iliad and Odyssey were written by different authors.

Unfortunately, there are no biographical details within the epics to give us insight into the author(s). However, In the Odyssey, there is a blind bard poet character, Demodocus, who recites his poetry to the royal court. Some have suggested that this character was created by Homer as a reflection of himself. This is a fun and tempting parallel to draw. Similar to how we might get the reflection of Shakespeare’s voice through Hamlet when the prince describes to his players the the philosophies of theatre acting. The portrayal of a blind poet also creates a nice symbolic parallel to the Norse God Odin, who, sacrificed an eye in exchange for divine wisdom. Indeed, the Greek bards saw themselves as divinely inspired by “the Muses”; the inspirational goddesses of the creative arts. Through Homer, the elegant oral form crafted these classics, and, incredibly, we can still hear the song like syntax and repetitions in the texts. 

So here’s a thought about Helen/Odysseus and Menelaus/Penelope: it takes 10 years for Helen to reunite with her husband Menelaus, who comes to seek her at Troy; it takes Odysseus 10 years to reunite with his wife Penelope once he sets out from Troy, and Penelope waits for him.

Where Helen must wait for her spouse to arrive and take her back home, Odysseus must spend the same amount of time traveling rather than stay in the same place. No one is going to come fetch Odysseus from the ruins of Troy.

But I also think that when Helen and Menelaus reunite, the old Helen can never truly go home, just as the Odysseus who leaves Troy is not the Odysseus who finds his way back to Penelope.

Is Odysseus playing at Menelaus by traveling to reunite with his wife? Or is he instead Helen, growing into someone else and estranged from his loved ones during the 10-year interim?

Does Penelope bring Odysseus home the way Menelaus brings Helen home? Does Penelope do it by giving Odysseus ways to prove that, deep down, he is always the man she knows and loves, the man who can use the impossible bow, the man who carved their bed, carved out of something near immovable, an olive tree with its roots deeply set in the arid Ithacan soil?

yuinevo:

Tall queen, short king (srry for any inconsistencies/inaccuracies)

The glories and horrors of the Trojan war are unique in scope. It lasted for ten years and showed both the warriors love and fear of war and death. This author points out the line from Odysseus:

“The men who Zeus decrees, from youth to old age, must wind down our brutal wars to the bitter end until we drop and die, down to the last man.”

Given the inter-relationships between the city-states at the time this must of have been what it felt like for all them for hundreds of years. Endless conflict with little gained but glory and much lost including all of their good years.

Apparently there was little question as to the legitimacy of the Iliad until recent modern history and the tales of painful and horrified deaths trailed through centuries. In these descriptions of combat the focus on loss of life and the physical pain and final dispensation of the human body is paramount in a way that modern thoughts on the soul separate from. The men in the tale care about their living pain and glory and the deathly honor of the body.

It would seem based on the overarching pieces, Homer knew war personally, intimately. He knew it enough to know that men strive for the fight and away from the pain. Men of split purpose.

After Hector’s rampage the Greeks end up crammed against their ships and both Agamemnon and Menelaus fail to sleep. One for wounded pride and one for guilt. No need to guess which is which. Menelaus is a good person I think and sees the best in others and it included assuming his brother was going out to war- ha!

Agamemnon does have a point when he says they need tactics to make up any of the ground lost and it includes the call for respect that he makes sure to use to each warrior regarding name of self and family and humbleness when calling them to meet. He even finds time to defend his brother in multiple ways to Nestor which is something nice to see.

Nestor again is responsible for the prodding of the Greeks to action leading to Diomedes and Odysseus going out for a scouting mission. Best part of this moment is Odysseus saying yeah yeah I’m great, now can we move before the sun comes up?

During their time out, the enemy sent spy is an idiot, granting them valuable information and satisfaction leading to the death of the Thracian king and the theft of his horses. Dolon is a worthless ass you blames Hector for his volunteering.

The whole thing ends with Apollo interfering to stop Athena’s meddling from doing any more damage.

This whole thing feels like the moment of squandered moments for the Trojans and proof of fates verdict.

P.S. Agamemnon has smooth feet- proof to me that he’s no warrior. Warriors and soldiers would have calloused feet.

P.P.S. Diomedes calls Nestor a “hard man” which he is. He is one seriously bad and tough dude.

After Zeus inflicts horrible pain on the Greeks “Panic” and “Rout” take them and bring about desperation. Agamemnon actually assists with the calls to the men and acknowledges his madness, blaming “Cronus’ son.” They fear they have lost the war and the balance of fate.

Agamemnon’s folly with Achilles is pointed out and his lack of courage is brought up by multiple people in multiple ways. And he finally admits his part and the value of Achilles. He proposes and full list of offerings and apologies to but says “(l)et him bow down to me? I am the greater king….the greater man.” Humph. He still isn’t there. But the delegation goes to Achilles at his wish.

The group finds Achilles playing the petulant rock star, literally. He is playing to a full audience and wallowing in his pride. He calls them in with a near cat call and is addressed by Odyseus as to the need for him, his responsibilities, and the offer.

Achilles then compares Agamemnon to the Gates of Hell and condemns him. He asks why they are there again- pointing out that he doesn’t believe they are there for a wife since they so easily took his. He says he’s leaving and he is not interested in the offer or Agamemnon’s daughter because he will die there and it isn’t worth his life.

His charioteer begs him to relent, but he will not, warning him that he will hate him if he sides with Agamemnon. Ajax follows berating him and is met with a get out and a fv(k you for Agamemnon.

Needless to say, the “greater man” swears off Achilles leaving the Greeks in the same place they were. Desperate.

P.S. Ew moment in Achilles comment about enjoying “her to the hilt.”

Athena finds a target of menace in Aesepus an ally whose fired shot fails to kill Menelaus due to the quick action of his fellow Argives and the interference again of Athena on the field.

It is this action alone that gives Agamemnon one of his few justifiable moments. The breaking of the truce is a break in sacred war behavior and in doing so he has the right to hate the Trojan action. His belief that they were deceitful I still find irritating since Athena began it, but he is correct in his rage. Of course he can’t help himself from being the jack@$$ he is because most of his rage is the appearance. His concern for his brother’s welfare is all about how it will impact how he looks to his people.

It appears to me that the men of Greece are genuinely worried for the good man Menelaus, but his brother is exactly who Achilles believes him to be. However in righteous anger the Greek army seems to me to be juxtaposed as both movable sheep and unstoppable forces of nature. They move to their goatherd and rush like hurricane. I find the image to be what the word awesome was meant to be. And during this rise of force the shepherds such as Ajax call for men to hold their ground and “No heroics now!” They see the madness and know the end of the game.

In the middle of this Agamemnon takes Odysseus to task and gets Achilles accusations thrown from another mouth of being blustering and mouthy. Interestingly in this moment Agamemnon shows that he has learned and he apologizes. What follows is a frightening image of silent wrath versus Trojan bluster. Clear direction versus opposing voices of allies. The end is the scores of dead on both sides, enough to break your heart.

poeticsuggestions:

scaldingwater:

hmmm…. today i will deny god’s will

odiko-ptino:

Playing an Odyssey-based game

Agamemnon’s sooooo excited to see Clytemnestra and the kids again ❤️

I didn’t think Odysseus was particularly known for his modesty but I do like that the game put in the nod to Odysseus’ Canonically Legendary Thighs by designing him with a sexy pteruges. None of the other Greek soldiers dress like that

A fix-it for dealing with Polyphemus! Did this even OCCUR to Odysseus in the original??

Worked pretty well. Maybe Odysseus will learn something from this

underrated quote

“You would never forgive yourself if you were to choose me.”

Odysseus to Helen

Song of Achilles, by Madeline Miller

I know Odysseus’ whole thing is how much he loved his wife (even in the original books I assume) but I’ve never realised how refreshing it is to see a male character actually love his wife so sincerely and publicly

The gays once again ruining the ‘i hate my wife’ jokes industry